by ; A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

Despite successfully relinquishing the 30 years of terrorist war launched by tiger terrorists and their minions under the leadership of megalomaniac Prabhakaran and establishing a peaceful country on 18^th May, 2009 by our gallant war heroes under the unwavering leadership and guidance of former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa and thereby creating the atmosphere for all communities in the country to live in peace and harmony with hopes of a day tomorrow which had been snatched away by the ruthless terrorists, the peace and harmony thus established seems to be in great peril as a consequence of what is happening in the North and on the basis of statements being made by sheep clothed camouflaged tiger terrorist appearing as politicians,

The National Flag of a country symbolizes the brevity and history of that country.  Following the recent refusal of the Northern Province Education Minister Kandiah Sarveswaran’s to unfurl the National Flag at a school function held in Vavuniya, and saying that he has not rrspected the Sri Lankan National Flag for the last 37 years the sheep clothed terrorists Vigneswaran, Sumanthirann, Dharmalingam Sidharthan, Mavai Senadirajah and some other TNA parliamentarians who remained hitherto silent on this subject have got oxygenated and made their comments against the National Flag as a consequence of this inept governments impotence and reluctance to take action against Saraveswaran.

Disrespecting the National Flag, as per many political analysts is equivalent to disrespecting or violating the constitution of the country and these three vicious individuals and Saraaveswaran are under oath to uphold the constitution.  In other countries people who violate the constitution of those countries implicitly or explicitly are subjected to jail sentences and if they are members of parliament or state councils such memberships are also annulled.  Sri Lanka too has an example of this procedure in which the Parliament memberships of the TULF MPs including the then Leader of the Opposition Amirthalingam got annulled following their refusal to take oaths to uphold the 6^th amendment to the constitution when it was introduced.

The Sirisena-Ranil junta which was installed in power by the pro-Tamil anti Sri Lankan western imperialists, Indian hegemonists and the Tamil diaspora and servile to the Tamils has remained completely aloof and unconcerned about what is happening in the North and anti-constitutional and anti Sri Lankan statements being made by sheep clothed terrorists appearing in the garb of politicians.

The chauvinist Chief Minister of the Northern Province making a lengthy comment in defence of Saraveswaran’s stance has said that even though the National flag of a country cannot be disrespected, every citizen is entitled to their own individual opinion and Sinhalese politicians cannot impose their will on the Tamil populace as the Tamil people of Sri Lanka are yet to fully enjoy the benefits of democracy and freedom.

He has said that he respects the feelings of the Education Minister Saraaveswaran but he regrets that his resentment has taken a form which is derisive of the people, and Saraaveswaran could have shown his disappointment to Sinhala hegemony in some other way. He has not explained what he meant by this ‘some other way’..

Deliberately distorting the history of this country this chauvinist says that without giving adequate recognition to the original inhabitants of this Island and their religion, the National flag gives undue importance to the Sinhalese and to Buddhists, and he says this was the reason for the resentment of the Education Minister.

He states that the Tamils are the majority community in the North and East and they existed from pre Buddhistic times.

Delving into his own history he states that he himself has undergone the same political reservations or resentment as Saraveswaraan due to the hegemonic attitude of successive Sri Lankan Governments an states that since he participated as a Senior Cadet at the Royal College in late 1950s at the Independence Day’Parade at Galle Face he did not thereafter attend any Independence Day Celebrations up to date though invited every year while he was a Judge he did not participate.

He says his resentment centered around the fact that though the Country received its Independence from the British in 1948 the Tamils have not received freedom from Sinhala hegemony which was set up post – Independence after the Britishers left. He points out that in 2015 when Sambandan preferred to show his good will to the Sinhalese by attending that year’s Independence Day celebrations which he excused himself Mano Ganesan (another sheep clothed terrorist who reportedly used to share Prabhakaran’s swimming pool with that megalomaniac) rightly asked what benefits has Sambandan achieved due to his goodwill and said he has thus shown his resentment to Sinhala hegemony in his own way.

Sumanthiran, the co-author of the unwanted constitution, addressing a meeting in Batticaloa has said that he too does not like the National Flag of Sri Lanka and it needs to be changed, preferably very soon.

TNA MP Dharmalingam Siddhartahan commenting on the stance taken by Saraneswaran at Vavuniya Sinhala School has also emphasized the need to change the present National Flag.

Mavai Senathirajah has said that they never accepted the current National Flag as the legitimate flag of this country and it should modified in a manner acceptable to the Tamils when the new federal and secular constitution is introduced.

The ignorant and boorish Vigneswaran Saraneswaran, Sumantgiran, Siddhartan, Mavai Senadiraajah et al should understand the historical significance of the present National Flag and its evolution.

Authentic historical accounts claim that when Vijaya, the first King of Sri Lanka, arrived ifrom India in 486 BC, he brought with him a flag with a symbol of a lion on it^. Since then the Lion symbol played a significant role in the history of Sri Lanka. It was used extensively by North Indian prince who followed King Vijaya and it became a symbol of freedom and hope.

In 162 BC, when King Dutugemunu embarked on the campaign in which he defeated the South Indian invader Elara, who had ruled the northern part of the island, he carried with him a banner which portrayed a lion carrying a sword on his right forepaw along with two other symbols, the Sun and the Moon.

This banner was in use until 1815, when the reign of the last King of the Kandyan Kingdom, King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, was brought to an end with the signing of the Kandy convention on 2 March proclaiming KingGeorge III as King of Ceylon and replacing the Lion flag with the Union Flag as the national flag of Ceylon. The government of British Ceylon used its own flag. The Lion Flag was taken to England and kept at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

When the independence movement in Sri Lanka gained strength in the early 20th century, E. W. Perera, a prominent figure of the independence movement with the help of D. R. Wijewardene, the press baron, discovered the original Lion flag in  Chelsea. A picture of it was subsequently published in a special edition of the Dinamina newspaper and then the Lion flag became a centrepiece of attraction to the public, who for the first time since the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom were now aware of its actual design.

In 1948 the flag was adapted as the national flag of the Dominion of Ceylon, however the flag underwent several changes in 1953 and again in 1972. During the same year four leaves of the Bo tree were added to the four corners of the Fag under the direction of Nissanka Wijeyeratne, who was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Chairman of the National Emblem and Flag Design Committee. Prior to 1972, the corners of the flag were occupied by symbols depicting spearheads. The four Bo Leaves added by Nissanka Wijeyeratne reflect the core principles of Mettha (loving kindness), Karuna (compassion), Upeksha (equanimity) & Muditha (happiness).

The present National Flag symbolizes the following:

• The Lion represents the bravery of Sri Lankaans,
• The Bo Leaves represents the four Buddhist virtues – kindness, compassion, sympathetic jou and equanimity
• The sword of t Lion represents the sovereignty of the nation and the bravery of its peple
• The curlu hair on the lion’s hed – religious observahnce, wisdom, and meditation
• The eight hairs of the Lion’s tail – the noble eightfold path
• The beard of the lion – purity of words
• The handle of the sword – the elements of wter, fire, air and the earth the country is made of
• The nose o the lion – Intelligence
• The two front paws of the lion – the purity in handling wealth
• The vertical orange stripe – the Tamil ethnicity
• The vertical green stripr – the Muslim faith and Moor ethnicity
• The Gold border round the Flag – unity of Sri Lankans
• The maroon background – represents the Sinhalese ethnicity

In addition to the National Flag, Sri Lanka also has provincial flags for each Province and pictures of which are appended below.  And what else these sheep clothed terrorists require and do they want their Puli Kodi (Tiger flag) symbol also embedded in the National Flag of the country.  This inept government is allowing unwanted space to these sheep clothed terrorists and if stern action against them is not taken at the earliest the government will get their own grave dug by these sheep clothed terrorists.

Current provincial flag

Flag of Central Province[2] (1987–present)

Flag of Eastern Province (22 May 2007–present)

Flag of North Central Province (1987–present)

Flag of Northern Province (22 May 2007–present)

Flag of North Western Province (1987–present)

Flag of Sabaragamuwa Province (1987–present)

Flag of Southern Province (1987–present)

Flag of Uva Province (1987–present)

Flag of Western Province (1987–present)

Historic provincial flags

Flag of North Eastern Province
(1988–2007)